Chronic Hunger Lingers in the Midst of Plenty

Despite being one of the biggest grain producers of the world, India lags behind on food security with nearly 25 percent of its population going to bed hungry. Credit: Neeta Lal/IPSBy Neeta LalNEW DELHI, Jul 28 2016 (IPS)In a fraught global economic environment, exacerbated by climate change and shrinking resources, ensuring food and nutrition security is a daunting challenge for many nations. India, Asia’s third largest economy and the world’s second most populous nation after China with 1.3 billion people, is no exception.The World Health Organization defines food security as a situation when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preference for an active and healthy life. The lack of a balanced diet minus essential nutrients results in chronic malnutrition.The global food security challenge is unambiguous: by 2050, the world must feed nine billion people. According to the Global Hunger Index 2014, India ranks 55 out of the world’s 120 hungriest countries even behind some of its smaller South Asian counterparts like Nepal (rank 44) and Sri Lanka (39).Despite its self-sufficiency in food availability, and being one of the world’s largest grain producers, about 25 per cent of Indians go to bed without food. Describing malnutrition as India’s silent emergency, a World Bank report says that the rate of malnutrition cases among Indian children is almost five ...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - July 28, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Neeta Lal Tags: Advancing Deserts Aid Asia-Pacific Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Energy Environment Food & Agriculture Gender Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Inequity Labour Natural Resources Population Pover Source Type: news